


The Labyrinth

by leviassthan



Category: Wizard101 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Canon Rewrite, For a Friend, Lighthearted, M/M, Magic, Self-Indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:48:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29548866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leviassthan/pseuds/leviassthan
Summary: A sort-of novelization / re-telling of part of the Dragonspyre lore regarding the Labyrinth in Wizard101, a bit of fan-fiction written as a kind of interpretation on what exactly was up with the Dean and his chance encounter with a young wizard. It is also sort of my answer to what possibly becomes of the Dean after their time together.
Relationships: Vladimir Darkflame/Original Character, Vladimir Darkflame/Original Male Character
Kudos: 1





	The Labyrinth

Once upon a time in a far, far away land known as the Spiral, rested the floating island of the great nation of Dragonspyre. Crystal blue waters flowed down the elegant design of the city, creating a picture-perfect atmosphere of utopia, the kind written about by great philosophers for centuries. If a young wizard were to search for Mount Olympus, they had to look no further than that blessed land. In fact, there was one particular up-and-coming mage; his name was Zachary, and he was a learned master of the school of ice magic first and life magic second, who had always dreamt of one day getting into the prestigious Dragonspyre Academy. His delicate skin cold but gentle to the touch, his eyes had turned blue and white respectively from the continual use of ice magic. His messy mullet hung a bit over his bright eyes, his hair following the opposite two-toned pattern of his eyes. With a youthful face, donning a winter outfit alongside a typical pointed wizard hat adorned with a lapis lazuli crystal and determination in his soul, he was by all accounts the archetypal hero, journeying away from his home in search of something greater and to enact justice for all. Sometimes Zachary felt a certain resentment for being continually pushed to perform more and more and wondering why he worked so hard if the Spiral may never get better, but he ignored it and kept on smiling.

Zachary Firestrider, or as he was known to just about everyone, the Young Wizard and occasionally, the archaeologist. He wasn’t the chosen one by any means, just a highly talented student traveling the Spiral and trying his best to do some good along the way on his adventures. In fact, he originated from a world that was outside the spiral, in which people didn’t even believe that magic existed. But even in a world like that Zachary and his parents both knew he had special abilities, and once he turned eighteen his parents allowed him to fully pursue his dreams of becoming a Wizard by transporting to Wizard City in the Spiral through a crystal orb. From there Zachary began attending the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts ran by the Headmaster Merle Ambrose. Zachary was but a young wizard, and he’d spent much of his life on academics to the point he had no time for friends outside of animal familiars. He wouldn’t dare to be perceived as worthless or lazy, he was here at the magic school to prove that he wasn’t either of those things and worthy of accomplishing his dreams. He needed the approval of others if he was going to be able to approve of himself. He was more than determined to trudge through the fires of the underworld in order to discover the lost secrets of the ancient world of Dragonspyre for himself. His parents were refugees from the terrible disaster that had befallen the once illustrious world of Dragonspyre, and now Zachary had not only a world-saving study assignment from Ravenwood but also a personal reason to uncover the truth.

In Dragonspyre, everything changed when the Dragon Titan attacked. Only Vladimir Darkflame, the Dean of Dragonspyre Academy, was strong enough to save the nation from the unspeakable evil that was about to befall them. But when they needed him most, he did nothing to stop it. He sat back and watched the chaos with a smile hidden underneath his mask, the labyrinth master Dmitri Ironchains throwing him and his conspirators into the inescapable prison contained within before he himself perished from the volcanic ash flooding his lungs. At this point locked away from the world he didn’t know how many years had passed since the destruction, he only knew that the Dragon Titan had fallen back into its deep slumber without him to keep it vitalized. At least being a necromancer, he was more than able to keep himself alive. The Council of Wizards, Warriors, and King that presided over the once-great country perished and their legacy now laid in ruins, and it was all because of him. Oh, how the tables had turned. He could still remember learning about how the forces of Men and Drakes had banded together to overcome the dragons that ruled the skies, and now the entire continent was pulverized by a vengeful dragon’s flames. Blue as far as the eye could see, beautiful architecture, and luscious grass, all scorched asunder until the buildings were tainted purple with ash and death filled the skies while the Dragon Titan fell back into a rageful slumber atop the volcano overlooking the island.

When the young adult wizard Zachary journeyed to Dragonspyre as one of the Ravenwood students headed under the legendary elder wizard Merle Ambrose sent to track down one of the strongest necromancers in the Spiral, Malistaire, he couldn’t have imagined what deathly evils lied ahead in the fallen world. Zachary couldn’t even tell what time of day it was, for the sun and moon were obscured by the surging sulfur. If this was what happened when the Dragon Titan unleashed its wrath on one island, he could only envision the horror of what could result if Malistaire were to carry out his plan to reawaken an all-powerful destructive force upon the Spiral all for the sake of cheating death and bringing back his dead wife. Zachary wiped a few beads of sweat off of his soft forehead—being a thaumaturge in a fire magic world could quickly become unbearable temperature-wise, as well as being easily countered when it came to the magic.

Zachary did his best to trudge through blood, death, and destruction, a lone warrior in a once-thriving paradise now inhabited only by drakes and the ghosts of its former inhabitants. Or so he thought. In order to gain access to the upper tier of Dragonspyre, Zachary would have to find a way to get into Dragonspyre Academy. Seeing the institution he admired now in ruins and its books scattered all across Dragonspyre in a last-ditch effort to save the sacred tomes, Zachary could only let out a sigh. He had been told to seek out the Dean of Admissions, Vladimir Darkflame, and stay for detention so that he may gain acceptance into Dragonspyre Academy. After checking around, Zachary came to the realization that the Dean had long since been put into prison in the Labyrinth. Not entirely sure what to expect, Zachary took a proverbial leap of faith across the darkness in the search of something greater and entered the sigil leading into the perilous Labyrinth filled with twisting paths, abandoned buildings, and pools of lava.

Overlooking the lava pools on a path of crushed rock stood Dmitri Ironchains, the head of the detention center who stood atop purple rocks overlooking the Lava Lake, with several dragon head pedestals that seemed to function as drawbridge mechanisms to lead to the other zones of the domicile. Decked out from head to toe in iron, dying a gallant knight with the noteworthy beard to match. He was nearly two heads taller than Zachary and leaned on his sword, his form shimmering and transparent like the other ghosts in Dragonspyre. With his visor tilted up Zachary could see that his face still looked as fierce as the day his soul left his body.

“Mr. Ironchains! I’ve heard so much about you. It’s a shame that I only get to meet you after, well, everything, happened…” Zachary tilted his head to the side, in awe. “I’ve come here for the Dean. I’m not sure what he’s doing in a maximum-security prison, but you know. I figure he got trapped here during the whole destruction thing.”

Dmitri glanced at Zachary, perking up an eyebrow. “If you’ve come here for the Dean then well, personally I wouldn’t worry about him any longer. He’s been taken care of, over in that tower.” Zachary tried to peer over Dmitri’s iron-covered shoulder to see, but he was too short. “I’m more worried about his accomplices.”

“Accomplices--?” Zachary appeared visibly confused. “You mean coworkers?”

“Oh, young wizard.” He shook his head, face serious. “The Dean isn’t the reputable hero that you’d expect from a bearer of the title. He turned bad and set loose a couple of the criminals who were imprisoned here. You must be brave for a youngster and a wizard if you were even willing to step foot in this place after the destruction. I’m not even talking about the ghosts—the volcanic ash. I’m a ghost, so—why don’t you give me a helping hand and put these criminals to rest?”

Zachary pursed his lips in thought listening to all this, supposing that this act of heroism was more important to attend to first. Perhaps the mystery of this place would reveal itself in due time. “Sounds good.”

“You’ll need a way to get across the bridge. After the raid, whoever had it last left the key to the bridge in one of those houses over there.”

Without further ado, Zachary ran off down the rocky path on the hunt down after the key. Scouring the empty stone houses, there was no key in sight until he turned the corner towards a spiked tower with a confused Silver Sentinel standing in front of it. "This key is my duty. To guard it I was made. The key must not be taken. I guard it with all my being." The Silver Sentinel stated without emotion. Zachary soon realized he would have to defeat the confused sentinel for the key in order to unlock the path across the Lava Lake. Entering into a battle circle with the serious sentinel, Zachary knew he could outdo such a robotic monster in battle.

With a quick exchange of life and ice spells, Zachary kept whittling away at the sentinel with the freezing winds of his summoned Frost Hound, too much for the Silver Sentinel to heal through or attack back with a weak Seraph.

Walking over the Silver Sentinel’s motionless body, Zachary picked up the key and smirked to himself. This Silver Sentinel wasn’t going to become a Platinum Sentinel any time soon if it fought like that.

Zachary hurried back across the complex to reach Dmitri, who smirked seeing Zachary emerge triumphant. “That looks like the right key!” Dmitri took it from Zachary, looking it over.

“Now use the bridge key on that pedestal. The mechanism inside will raise the bridge and you can cross it easy enough. On the other side, see if you can find and defeat three escaped conspirators for me. That would help restore some order to this place.” Dmitri gestured with his head towards the dragon’s head pedestal which faced south, prompting Zachary to walk over and activate it. Zachary waited for the lava to drain out and open up the path leading to the next section of the Labyrinth. Zachary trodded across the path down into the base of the Labyrinth to hunt down the three conspirators Dmitri had mentioned—Zora Steelwielder, Andor Bristleback, and Devora Shadowcrown.

The first escaped criminal he encountered was in the center of the Labyrinth, roaming the streets with more of the confused sentries behind her. Zora Steelwielder, a life magic user with hair as white as snow and clad in purple armor, had been exploring the area with her sword in hand until she encountered Zachary and promptly attacked him. She was quick with her sword and knew her way around plant magic, but she was no match for indomitable frigid winds of Zachary’s summoned blizzard. Next, Zachary scurried west and drove his sword through the purple robes and heart of Andor Bristleback, freezing the cyclops and spirits surrounding him as well in the process. Finally, he broke Devora Shadowcrown’s crown with the hammer of a frost giant, sending the other cyclops and spirits flying with her. Zachary ran back to Dmitri as quickly as he could, dedicated to his job of being the heroic explorer but at the same time just wanting to be finished with the whole tedious thing.

“Excellent work! It sounds like they’ve learned from their mistake. Such a pity that Dragonspyre had to pay for it.” Dmitri smiled seeing Zachary come back with the news of their beatings. Seeing that if he gave him back the key, Zachary would now be able to access the Dean’s chambers, Dmitri paused in a moment of hesitation. Not out of mistrust of Zachary, but rather worry for his safety. “You know, Zachary… I’m dead, of course, but you’re still living, and still young and learning, for that matter. I’m not so sure if I should allow you to see the Dean. When we rounded him up, he had no regrets about what he’d done.”

“Wait, what did he do other than the jail break—”

“He’s either cold-blooded or just plain crazy… no good will come from talking to him. You’ve earned the right to speak with him, though, so I’ll give the key to you. Use it on the center pedestal to raise the bridge through the lava to his cell. Just watch out for that one. He’s tricky, and as nasty as they come.” A sense of foreboding made itself known in Zachary’s very soul, but he pressed on and walked across the path to the center of the labyrinth revealed by the lava parting by way of the metal bridge’s mechanism, bubbles of lava spewing up around the edges of the pathway.

Reaching the end of the bridge, Zachary faced a spiraling purple tower of Roman design, covered in spikes, cracks, and lava abound. Dmitri watched Zachary as he came up to the iron door, now only one physical barrier away from the current den of the Dean. Zachary didn’t know what to expect, but he pressed on and threw the door open to walk into a grand interior, grates on the floor atop lava running underneath from pumps that once flowed with sparkling water.

Horrifying spiked dragon head busts lined the walls along with spiked pedestals, the statues having long since crumbled, lava and fire continually running over the grated ceiling and a black chest he presumed to contain the Dean’s belongings. It was as though Zachary had stepped right into a Roman dungeon lavaglobe, and at the center floor a couple paces forwards stood a man almost three heads taller than him, looking straight at him. He wasn’t a ghost as just about everyone in the decimated world of Dragonspyre had been up to this point.

His form was opaque, tall, imposing, and dressed from head to toe in brilliant black and gold layered robe and pointed mantle not out of place for someone who was in a position of command—the keepers of the Labyrinth must’ve not had time to put prisoners into uniform with the dire situation that had been going on concurrently. Zachary instinctively drew back upon seeing him— there was no face to see underneath his hood, only a dragon-shaped mask and maroon eyes that bored into Zachary’s very soul. The mask was unchanging but communicated much on its own in the shadows and simultaneous harsh orange light of the lava room, with its representation of the powerful being that had brought the country to its knees.

This man in the dragon mask was none other than the legendary necromancer Dean Vladimir Darkflame. The light inside him would never be bright, it could only be darkened. As a person who had relied on visual information for so long to perceive the world, Zachary didn’t know how to respond to the blindness of looking upon a man with no face. The eyes of his mask were slits through which only red would show. Their eyes met in slow motion, freezing ice tenacious and death still ever burning, and it was then that Zachary knew he was dealing with an entirely different kind of headmaster. Zachary was staring right into the uncanny—a reputable and hard-working man at the pinnacle of development who was now written down in history as a violent traitor, locked away in a dungeon in an abandoned fire-razed world.

“Hello there… young Wizard.” The Dean cut through the silence with his notably manly voice of baritone register and Dragonspyre accent, his mind and wit as razor-sharp as he was the day he was jailed. Those grates weren’t the only unbreakable Dragonspyre steel in the room with Zachary. “I don’t get many guests here. As a point of fact, I get no visitors. Not a single living soul. So, believe me when I say I’m pleased to see you. What brings you here?” Pressing his gloved hands together, he steepled his fingers, as he used to on the top of his desk back at the academy. Considering the current circumstances, he was somewhere between a cross of an approachable figure of power and a shady-looking criminal who couldn’t stop shifting and wringing his hands.

“—Greetings. Let me—introduce myself first. My name is Zachary, and I’m an ice wizard.” Zachary bowed before Dean Darkflame with his arm bent inwards, the sword scabbard around his belt which held his sword-wand in place jangling as he shifted his position.

“An ice wizard in Dragonspyre? Ooh, bad idea. Let me guess. You want me to admit you to Dragonspyre Academy, correct? There should be no troubles there… they threw me in jail, but they never fired me.” He paused, awaiting Zachary’s confirmation. Zachary was surprised to see just how cordial the Dean was being— well, it made sense for him to be personable if he was a Dean, but Zachary wondered whether he had he been wrongly imprisoned.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m here because I need to get the Portal Stone to travel through the Dragonspyre Academy portal, sir.”

“Excellent, then! Since the Titan’s army destroyed Dragonspyre, student enrollment is down. We can use the fresh blood…” His sentence trailed off for a moment as he looked out towards the tower window overlooking the volcano atop Dragonspyre. “If I’m to help you, then you must do something for me. Just a little mercy for an old man in this cold dungeon cell.” He asked calm, without a beat in his voice as he claimed that he was cold to Zachary, in a lava-filled jail cell. Zachary was about to point this out but stopped himself figuring that even in a land rapt with hellfire, one who was used enough to the temperature after years of captivity may have a different sense of it than he would.

“Of course. What do you need me to do?”

“Please go to the tower outside and retrieve my cloak. During the circumstances leading up to my…” He paused, before saying the next word with a tinge of distaste cutting through his former polite tone. “arrest, it ended up atop the tower outside.”

Turning to leave, Zachary shot straight towards the tower the Dean was referring to, headfirst into danger. Inside he encountered the Property Master, another one of the sentinels of the complex. The big rock man spoke down to Zachary, as emotionless as the last sentinel.

“You cannot have these things I guard. You must destroy me to take them.” This golem posed more of a challenge for Zachary than the least due to being of a more offensive school of magic—storm. Zachary was similarly well-versed in the elements as the Property Master was, however, and he entered into the ring of combat with total confidence. A few electrocuting sharks here and a few frosty evil snowmen there, and Zachary destroyed the Property Master. As Zachary defeated the next monster, the Dean observed him his journey through the series of channels, corridors, and hallways that made up the channels of the Labyrinth. The Dean observing Zachary in the Labyrinth was able to see the bigger picture from his bird’s eye view of the Labyrinth and see which choices lead to a successful exit of the maze or a dead end. In other words, The Dean was a person with experience who knew what decisions would connect to which successes, while Zachary was still only a student who was learning for the first time from situation-dependent data such as whether to head left or right. If the fates were kind to him, then he would get out of the Labyrinth either way, but otherwise he would come to the dead-end trap and fail. The Dean watched Zachary leave the Property Master smiling to himself with the Dean’s cloak in his hands, happy to be of service. Zachary came back into the den of the Dean and handed the cloak over to the Dean.

“Here you are, sir.”

“Your first day, and you get the highest marks in ‘Show and Tell’. I’m most grateful for this cloak… it keeps the chill away.” He praised Zachary’s resourcefulness. “I’m afraid my demands haven’t been entirely met. In addition to the restoration of my cloak, I’d like my old staff back. I require it to admit you into the school.” The Dean shifted his stance, reaching a hand into one of the pockets on the side of his leather vest. “My staff was taken by a guard who now patrols deep in the detention center—the Gallium Paladin. Take this: it should get you through his gate.” The Dean passed a small key to Zachary.

“Hold on, the guards? Are these corrupt guards? Or are you trying to get me to harm some weathered souls who are doomed to patrol for all of eternity as ghosts? What did they put you in for, anyway?”

“What’s that? You don’t want to help me? I suspect what you’re up to is far more important than any punishment they’re inflicting on me.” The Dean’s previously affable attitude quickly dropped away in response to Zachary’s confrontation. “So tell me, young wizard? How badly do you want admission into Dragonspyre Academy and the Portal Stone that comes with it? If you wish it, you’ll do as I say…” Zachary looked up at the dean from underneath his eyelids, realizing that he would have to do it, and he would do it lest he wanted to get an F on Ravenwood’s task laid out for him, but he wouldn’t like it.

Heading out into the Labyrinth again, he traveled southeast to the other side of the Gate of Despair before confronting the Gallium Paladin, a fellow ice magic user. Dressed in brown and silver armor like the rest of the guards, he rested both hands on the hilt of his sword with tired eyes for the duration of the magic fight. All he had desired was some time off, but sadly his vacation hours had gone up in flames like always, this time because he spent all of it sleeping. The Gallium Paladin was surprisingly sturdy even by ice wizard standards, and Zachary had to admit that his arcticzilla was giving him a run for the money. Nevertheless, Zachary overcame the guard with the chilly breath of an ice wyvern. Taking the staff from the Gallium Paladin’s dead body, Zachary could see it was covered in scratch, slash, and burn marks as he returned to the Dean with staff in hand.

“Well, my young friend…” Dean Darkflame took the wizarding staff from Zachary, “you’ve returned my staff to me. It looks a bit worse for wear, but should be functional still.”

“Am I finished with those errands?” Zachary asked with a bit of worry in his voice.

“I am without the third of my badges of office. You have provided my cloak, my staff, and now I need the Battle Crystal.”

“Battle Crystal?”

“It’s being stored in Detention for safekeeping… could you return it to me?”

“I—”

“You’re understandably reluctant about so arming me, but let me put your mind at ease. I have a Portal Stone in my possession and can escape at any time. I will give you that stone if you restore my belongings to me. So, to Detention with you, and don’t come back without my Battle Crystal.” Dean Darkflame pointed at him.

Zachary plodded off to the Detention center to find the crystal among knives, potions, and all other sorts of dangerous knick-knacks, some of which Zachary had never seen and wouldn’t dare to examine further for his own safety. Zachary snatched the Battle Crystal out of the shelves, running back to the den of the Dean.

The Dean smiled at him beneath his mask. “You’ve done it! With my cloak, staff, and Battle Crystal, I feel like the Dean of Admissions once more. Mine is the power to decide who becomes a student. And with that, I am afraid that I will have to deny your application into Dragonspyre Academy. My condolences, young wizard.” Beneath his mask Dean Darkflame was smiling at the power he exerted over his student.

“Wait, now you just hold on a minute—” Zachary began, placing both of his hands on his hips in rapidly stewing anger.

“Unfortunately, you won’t be getting that Portal Stone either. It’s only appropriate to end your application with your defeat!” With that, Vladimir laid down a curse on Zachary to weaken him as the two drew into a dueling circle with one another.

“Oh, come on.” Zachary let out a sigh—after the fiftieth enemy that had done this to him, perhaps he should’ve learned by now not to fall for their tricks and still he had strolled right into another battle.

Zachary supposed it could be worse; at least Vladimir wasn’t a fire wizard, or he would’ve melted Zachary to a frosty little puddle of slush. But now the top student of Ravenwood was up against a wizard who was strong enough to destroy an entire island. Zachary looked at the now empowered and freed Dean and sighed. “Merle Ambrose will not be happy about this.” Zachary didn’t even feel that betrayed at this point considering this was at least the tenth time an opponent had tricked him into stepping on a sigil to fight them. Zachary pointed his sword-wand at the excited Dean. “I may be a student… however, I’m a still learned master of Ice magic— cool it.” Zachary summoned a snow serpent construct, which whipped around and attempted to lasso the Dean.

But with a single sweep of the Dean’s hand, the serpent decayed rapidly, falling away into dust. “Do you really think you can beat me, Zachary?” He asked, amused.

“I’ll do my best.” Zachary said. Zachary sent a killer snowman towards the Dean, who locked eyes with him.

The snowman lunged towards the Dean with knife in hand, but with one turn of the Dean’s hand he slashed it to bits with a sword-wielding skeletal pirate. A shadow creeping over where he stood, Vladimir looked up from the ground to see that Zachary had next summoned a huge frostzilla. His eyes wide, he could see a huge gush of surging icy breath about to gust right onto him. “Bravo, Zach. You’re stronger than I thought.” He admitted as the frostzilla proceeded to smack him across the room.

“I don’t think we’re even properly following the rules of taking turns in battling right now. I suppose it doesn’t matter when there is no need for me to follow those rules of honor either when I know now that you’d just cheat anyway.”

A cloud of magic snowflakes settled around the Dean, dazed and hurt but not out of commission yet. “Correct.” He got back up onto his feet and took out his staff with noteworthy flourish befitting of a man of his great talent. The two men, each wielding their respective wands, now stood a few paces from each other for their showdown.

“You’re deciding to use your staff instead of your hands for magic casting now?”

“Oh, I had a different idea.” The two wizards began to circle each other, and Zachary quickly realized they were about to get into close-quarter combat.

“Vladimir?”

“Zachary.”

“What were the circumstances leading up to your arrest?”

The blue skies beginning to fill up with clouds of apocalyptic volcanic ash, Vladimir stumbled backwards in the king’s room as his cloak was forcibly torn off of him. Dmitri knew there was no way he would be getting out of this alive now after the Dean had ripped his chest open with that horrible scarecrow construct, but Dmitri could still do something to protect his country and get his revenge by bringing the Dean down with him. Fighting with every last bit of his might, he used his sword to kill Devora, Andor, and Zora, then incapacitate Vladimir with a strike to his neck.

“I plotted to summon the Dragon Titan and I succeeded.”

“So what Dmitri told me was true, then.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“If you can somehow knock me to the ground first, I’ll tell you the answer if you’re so inclined before you execute me like the hero that you are.” Zachary raised his one-handed sword, poised to strike as they now stepped towards each other. 

The Dean swung at Zachary with his staff at the same time Zachary slashed forward, their weapons crossing. The Dean used his superior strength and height against Zachary, nearly about to overpower him until Zachary used his free hand to draw his scabbard and slam it into the Dean’s chest. Stunned, he stumbled before falling over backwards onto the iron floor. 

To be fair, it might not have been much of a fight considering Zachary was fighting the Dean, who, while armed, was still one incredibly malnourished and tired adult after being abandoned in a jail cell for who knows how long. Zachary cautiously stepped forward and checked to see if the Dean was still conscious. He was dazed, but still conscious. The Dean paused before laughing a little at the situation, Zachary sheathing his sword back into his scabbard as he stood over him.s

“Heh… you’re better than I thought you’d be… I’m sorry for deceiving you, but I couldn’t remain in there for another day. When you came to see me, I saw a way out… but to do so I needed to provoke you into a duel.” He rolled over and did his best to stand up again, dusting his robes off and handing the Portal Stone over to Zachary from his various possessions. “You have more than earned membership in the Academy. The Portal Stone is yours… perhaps you will undo the doom I brought upon this place.” He looked up towards the swirling lava ceiling. “Now in defeat, I am free to leave this place and go on to face my ultimate destination… I wonder what awaits me?”

“Before anything else happens, I just want to know why you did what you did. No one aside from the ghosts here even knew what became of you until I’m standing here talking to you right now.”

“Oh, where would I even begin. I suppose I do owe you that much, rather than simply disappearing as I am apt to do.” He leaned back against the wall, exhaling a sigh. “I am sure you know the history of our country that still remains in the records. But I will give a bit of background, just in case. Dragonspyre used to be a beautiful kingdom. Lava used to run with water. However, as Dragonspyre Academy grew, its political power did as well. One of our students, Aldared, used the power we had developed in him to overthrow the king. The people hated his tyranny and control, there was a whole revolution over it, and afterwards a council formed in the government to divide power between witches, wizards, and the king.”

“So the three conflicting groups were witches, wizards, and the king after Aldared?”

“Exactly. I missed when wizards like me were the ones in control of the magic of Dragonspyre. They thought me a madman when I refused to lay down and watch those insipid warriors, like Dmitri and the Gallium Paladin, claw for what was ours. With my group of conspirators, we would finally put an end to the infinite power struggle by holding the professors of the Academy hostage and summoning the Dragon Titan to bathe our world in fire as it had begun. Even when they threw me in here, they would never be able to undo what I did. Essentially, my colleagues got on my nerves, so I used a summoning ritual to revive the Dragon Titan along with the Titan Army which then attacked the kingdom. The few survivors evacuated the kingdom or lived through it due to being locked away, like yours truly. The Titan Army destroyed the gates so no one could come in or leave. Were I to do it over, I would’ve tried a different method.”

The Dean may have very well been a pathological liar, what with him claiming he was cold in a jail cell with flowing lava on the bottom and the top, but for once in his time with Zachary he sounded somewhat genuine. Zachary looked down at the portal stone in his hand, furrowing his brow.

“What if you could set it right?” Zachary didn’t elaborate further, but the Dean could catch onto what Zachary meant as an invitation to join him on his adventure to set things right in Dragonspyre, eyeing the portal stone in his hand.

Vladimir just stood there, Zachary’s body still as well.

“You are interesting, Zachary. Perhaps I shouldn’t leave here without you. Do you really think you could turn to me and forgive me… because I am only a solitary man in this dungeon cell.” 

The lava faded away to the gentler warm colors of the sun rising as the pair, a tall master and a wiry student heading out of the heavy door leading to the cell. They walked together down the broken cobbled road out to the ruined city—the world was their oyster, and with each other’s companionship they could do their best to make it better again.


End file.
